Christmas In Washington
by anotherweasley
Summary: Monica's first Christmas in Washington, D.C.


Christmas In Washington  
By: Olivia  
  
Chapter 1  
Christmas Eve  
  
Kersh's angry words were ringing in John's and Monica's ears as they left his office.  
  
"Well that went well," said Monica sarcastically as she looked down at her watch and let out a small sigh.  
  
"What's wrong?" asked John concerned.  
  
"Kersh," said Monica. "I missed my flight out of here."  
  
"You were goin' to Mexico?"  
  
"Well, I was. Oh well, I guess I get to spend my first Christmas in Washington. So are you going to see your parents in New York?"  
  
John nodded. "Yeah, I was going to drive up there now after I grab a few things from the office..." His voice trailed off.  
  
There was an awkward moment between the two. John felt guilty about Monica being here alone on Christmas. Monica couldn't spend Christmas with Scully because Scully and her Mom had take William to California to be with their family out there. John wanted to invite her with him, but feared it might be awkward between Monica and his parents. Not so much due to the fact that he would be bringing a woman over for Christmas dinner, which normally would start his mother to drop hints about marriage despite the woman being his partner, but what worried him was that Monica had been so involved in investigating Luke's disappearance. John would love to spend Christmas with her, but he had promised to spend Christmas with his parents and he just didn't want to open old wounds for them or make Monica feel uncomfortable in any way.   
  
But before he got a chance to weigh the pros and cons and to ask Monica, she said, "We'll I guess I'd better be going. Merry Christmas, John." She smiled at him to let him know that she understood, that everything was okay, before she walked to the elevator.  
  
John watched her disappear into the elevator and mentally kicked him for not inviting her.  
  
Chapter 2  
  
John entered their office and switched on the overhead light. He walked over to his desk where he found a neatly wrapped present. The wrapping paper has blue snowflakes on it.  
  
"Oh, no. She didn't," muttered John feeling even more guilty than he already was. He had been going to get her something, but he had gotten side tracked by their current case which had started days prior to today. Excuses piled upon excuses.  
  
John picked up the card that was on top and opened it. He read, "Hope you enjoy. Thought it might give us some ideas. Merry Christmas. Love always, Monica." John opened up the present to see the Men In Black DVD. He chuckled at the gag gift.  
  
John thought about Monica's use of the words "love always." He didn't want to read too much into it, but... One thought did override everything. John was going to make this one Christmas Monica would never forget.  
  
Chapter 3  
  
Christmas Morning  
  
The phone ran jarring Monica out of her pleasant dream. Blindly, Monica reached for the portable phone, more to stop its incessant noise than anything else. This had better be good, she thought.  
  
"Hello?" asked Monica groggily.  
  
"Did I wake ya?"  
  
Monica sighed, "John, it's..." she quickly glanced at her clock, "seven a.m. on Christmas.  
  
"I know. I'm sorry. I just need you to go look out yer window."  
  
Monica paused contemplating this. "This isn't leading to anything embarrassing is it?"  
  
She could hear John's laughter over the phone. "No, no, just go look out your window."  
  
Monica threw off her covers and grabbed her navy blue robe which she put over her black silk nightgown. She moved quickly as her bare feet touched the cold wood floor.  
  
When she got to the living room she opened up the curtain.  
  
"Wow. It's beautiful," she said into the phone, but more to herself.  
  
"Isn't it?"  
  
Outside the street, cars, lamp posts, buildings, all were covered in a blanket of snow that had fallen overnight. There was a peaceful, serene, silence that accompanied the fallen snow.  
  
"Turned out to be a White Christmas, after all," said John. "Don't see too many of those here."  
  
"You know, I think that's the one thing I missed about moving to New Orleans, the change in seasons," said Monica thoughtful. "Hey, wait a minute. How did you know it snowed here? Aren't you in New York?"  
  
"Nope," said John. "Change of plans. If you're free, I'm coming to pick you up in an hour."  
  
Now Monica was really confused. "Pick me up? Where are we going?"  
  
"It's a surprise," was all John would say.  
  
"You shouldn't be out driving in this snow?" Monica protested concerned.  
  
"I've got a four wheel drive. I'll be fine. I'll see you in an hour."  
  
Monica was still as confused as ever, but she was going to play along. "Okay."  
  
"Oh and dress warmly," said John before hanging up before Monica had a chance to respond.  
  
Chapter 4  
  
About an hour later, John was knocking on Monica's door. She opened the door to John dressed in full winter regalia-coat, hat, gloves, scarf, and boots. Flecks of the slowly falling snow covered him.  
  
"Hey, John," said Monica with a smile. As confused as she was, she was happy to see him. Overjoyed really. She had thought she'd be spending her Christmas alone and never thought she'd have the pleasure of John's company.  
  
"Hey, Mon," said John with a big smile. "Grab your coat and we're off. I'd come in, but I don't want to get wet snow all over your floor."  
  
Monica mentally paused for a moment at John's use of a nickname for her before grabbing her coat, hat, gloves, and scarf and putting them on. "You still haven't told me where we're going."  
  
John just smiled mysteriously. His eyes were twinkling. "You'll see."  
  
Chapter 5  
  
Fifteen minutes later found Monica and John trudging through ankle deep snow and a few flakes fell out of the sky onto them. The only sound was of the crunching snow beneath their feet as they walked. A cold wind blew against them impeding their progress. They stopped when they came to the edge of a hill. Monica looked around. They were the only two souls out here.  
  
Monica peered down the hill, more like a cliff. It was practically a straight incline going downward to oblivion it seemed.   
  
John put down a large bright orange sled he had been carrying at the top of the hill. "They call this Devil's Hill," he said.  
  
Monica just laughed. "I can see why. I can't believe you brought me sledding."  
  
"Hey, who doesn't like to sled?" said John full of humor and good spirits. He sat down in the sled positioning himself in the back part. He looked up at Monica, his eyes asking her to join him.  
  
Monica smiled at the absurdity of two FBI agents going sledding on Christmas morning. Sledding was definitely something she had missed out on growing up in Mexico's hot weather.  
  
Monica sat down on the sled and positioned herself in between John's legs. She leaned back as John put both of his arms around Monica's waist like a seatbelt. They were both enjoying this already. Monica got a whiff of John's cologne and breathed John's scent in deeply  
  
John leaned forward and whispered in Monica's ear. "Are ya ready?"  
  
Monica could only nod, afraid to say something that would break the moment.  
  
John pushed the sled forward and the two went careening down the hill at an incredible speed. The wind whipped in their faces as Monica screamed and John laughed. They flew downward, picking up more and more speed with each second. Finally, after what seemed like eternity, they came to a hard stop at the bottom of the hill which threw both of them out of the sled on opposite sides.  
  
John was the first to sit up and looked over to Monica who was face down on the other side of the sled. She wasn't moving.  
  
"Monica!" John shouted as he quickly crawled over to Monica. He rolled her on her back. Her face was covered with snow. Her eyes appeared to be closed. With his teeth, John pulled his glove off his right hand. With his free hand, he gently brushed the snow as best he could off her face. "Monica."  
  
Monica eyes fluttered open.  
  
"Monica, you okay?" asked John anxiously.  
  
For a moment, Monica said nothing. They she started laughing and a few seconds later a relieved John joined her.  
  
"Sorry bout that," said John. "Do you want to call it quits?"  
  
Monica shook her head and grinned up at John. "Let's do it again."  
  
John grinned back as he helped Monica to her feet.  
  
Hand in hand, the two started the slow climb back up the incline. John held unto the sled with his free hand.  
  
Chapter 6  
  
Some hours later found Monica and John back at her apartment. They were sitting at her kitchen table, resting and relaxing, soaking up the warmth while their snow clothes dried in her bathroom. They were drinking hot cocco with marshmellows. The only trace left that they had been outside was the bright pink flush in their cheeks.  
  
Monica looked up from her drink and met John's eyes. "Thank you for today, John. I really, really had a wonderful time."  
  
John shrugged, embarrassed. "I wanted to thank you for the present. I was going to get you something..."  
  
Monica waved away any explanation. "Going sledding was the best present you could have given me."  
  
"I'm just sorry you didn't get to spend Christmas with your family," said John.  
  
Monica reached on and squeezed John's hand that had been resting on the table. "I think I did."  
  
John just smiled and put his free hand over top Monica's. He felt exactly the same way.  
  
The End  
  
"The lamp is burning low upon my tabletop/The snow is softly falling/The air is still in the silence of my room/I hear your voice softly calling/If I could only have you near to breathe a sigh up to/I would be happy just to hold the hands I love/On this winter's night with you/The smoke is rising in the shadow of our love/My glass is almost empty/I read between the lines upon each page the words of love you send me/If I could know within my heart you were lonely too/I would be happy just to hold the hands I love/On this winter's night with you."-Sarah McLachlan-"Song for a Winter's Night" 


End file.
